Example: An ActiveX control for analog objects

GMS Angular Gauge ActiveX control

For testing purposes, we have bought an ActiveX control that can make numerous types of angular gauges. Nearly any attribute of the control can be changed both in Definition and in Supervise.

The control can be used with any analog object in IGSS and you can choose between a number of alternative views.

For more information about the control, visit www.globalmajic.com.

What we want to do

In this example, we want to show the value of the analog object, q1, which is included in the Demo configuration that comes with every IGSS license. We want to bind the current process value of q1 to the needle value of the ActiveX control. This is how we want the control to look.

$images\ocx_exx.gif$

How we did it

Prior to this procedure, install the ActiveX control. To achieve the result shown above, follow these simple steps.

Select Objects ® Standard Descriptors ® ActiveX Control ® Show All . The Insert ActiveX Controls (OCX) dialog box appears.
Select the GMS Angular Gauge ActiveX Control in the list and click OK.
The default presentation of the control appears on the diagram. Move the control to the desired position and resize it.
Right-click it and select Descriptor Properties, then select ActiveX properties.
Find the property NeedleValue, right-click it and select Bind events TO control in the pop-up menu.
Check the Send object event to control box, click Browse and select the q1 object in the Open by Name dialog box. Click OK to return to the first dialog box.

$images\ocx_bindto.gif$

In the Atom drop-down list, select the Actual Value atom to bind the current process value to the needle. Click OK.
The value for NeedleValue will now change to the current process value of q1 and the arrow pointing to the left will be green. This arrow symbolizes an event that goes from the control into IGSS, whereas the arrow pointing to the right symbolizes an event that goes from IGSS to the control.

Now we want to change a few of the static properties of the ActiveX control. Do as follows:

Right-click one of the properties and select Show ActiveX control property pages in the pop-up menu. The ActiveX control’s own dialog box appears.
On the Library tab, open the Angular Gauge and General Meters folders and double-click the Amp Meter view. The presentation of the control now changes.
To change the range of the meter, click the Scales tab and type the minimum value 0 and the maximum value 100.
To change the caption inside the presentation, click the Captions tab and replace the default text with the text shown in the image below.
To show the High Alarm and Low Alarm ranges, click the Annulars tab. Set the number of Annulars to 3 and change the ranges as follows: Annular ID 1 to 0 to 12 (Low Alarm) and Annular ID 2 to 93 to 100 (High Alarm). This will result in the two red alarm ranges shown at the top of this topic.
To show the number of tics shown above, click the Tics tab and set the following:
Tics = 2
TicID 1 = Auto Tic - Enabled and TicSubCount to 5
TicID 2 = Auto Tic - Enabled

Close the properties dialog boxes and the control should now look like the one shown at the top of this topic.